Accounting Software Import
This article will show you how to set up your chart of accounts within Essentials, integrate with QuickBooks Online and Xero Online, and export a GL file (IIF) to be imported into your accounting software.
Topics in this article include:
- Confirming chart of accounts
- General Ledger reports
- Using QuickBooks Desktop with Rental Essentials
- QuickBooks Online integration
- Xero integration
First make sure Essentials has your correct chart of accounts listed. To make sure those are entered, go to Accounting > Accounts and make sure every account has the correct General Ledger account name or number assigned to it. What you have in Essentials must match what you have in your accounting software. If the General Ledger numbers or accounts do not match, you may receive errors when importing files into your accounting software.
You can also assign account numbers to a category and item and tie them to the account table. When doing GL entries, you can now record all revenue amounts broken down according to the income account associated with the item, or if none, the item category, or if none the income category (Rental, Sale, etc.).
To create a new account, go to Accounting > Accounts and in the Income section click the + button on the bottom.
Type the Account Name and Account Number in the correct spots and then click Save.
To connect the GL account to an item, go to Inventory > Inventory and click Edit. Under Administrative Information, you will see an Income Account Type.
To connect the GL account to a category, go to Inventory > Category and click Edit. Just below Description, you will see an Income Account Assignment.
Now that all your accounts are correctly entered into Essentials, you can bring those numbers over from Essentials to your accounting software. From Reports, you will find General Ledger reports to generate and export from Rental Essentials. Generate the report using the accounting method in which you report your income.
If you are not sure of your income accounting method, see our methods listed below. Once you select the accounting method to import, you will not want to change this method. If you change the accounting method in the middle of exports, your numbers will be off and some things could possibly be accounted for twice or not at all.
Cash (Closed) - Income is accounted for when the transaction has been completely paid in full AND items have been received.
Cash (Opened) - Income is accounted for when the transaction has been completely paid in full and items have NOT been received.
Accrual - Income is accounted for when items are out on rent, and payments have not been taken. Partial payment taken with items out on rent will be considered as accrual accounting.
Using QuickBooks Desktop with Rental Essentials
If you use QuickBooks as your accounting software, please use the reports designed specifically for QuickBooks. Accounting software programs other than QuickBooks will use our General Ledger reports.
Once you generate the report for your accounting method by entering the dates you want to import, you will have an option to download the report as the appropriate file for your accounting software. If you are not certain which format to export the report into, you will need to go into your accounting software and look at the file extensions to find out. Once the file has been exported, you now want to save it on your desktop. Once saved, you want to go into your accounting software and import the saved file.
Notes on QuickBooks desktop support
- You will need to turn on account numbers in QuickBooks.
- Make QuickBooks accounts with numbers for every Rental Essentials account.
- Do not use ANY built-in QuickBooks accounts. Create new accounts (we recommend using a POR prefix in the name to easily identify your accounts that are being imported).
- Specifically, Accounts/Receivable will not be able to work, and you will need to create a separate "Other" Asset account to hold POR accounts receivable entries. Tax Payable is similar.
- You may need to specifically add the new accounts to reports. This is up to you.
If you have a QuickBooks Online subscription, you can now sync Rental Essentials and QuickBooks Online! To do that follow these steps:
1. In QuickBooks Online, log in to your account.
2. We will need to enable showing account numbers in QuickBooks. To do that, go to ⚙️ and click on Account and settings > Advanced > Chart of accounts.
3. Log in to Rental Essentials and go to Accounting > Accounts and make sure that you verify all the account numbers to confirm that they are what you want to use.
4. Now go to Accounting > QuickBooks Integration and log in to Intuit.
5. After you log in to QuickBooks Online, verify all the account numbers again. Then go back to Accounting > QuickBooks Integration and create the Point of Rental accounts.
6. This will bring you to Setting Up Tax Rates. Click Create next to each tax rate.
7. After they all have been created, click Done With Taxes.
8. You also have the ability to sync your customers. Click on Customers.
9. Congratulations! You have now integrated your Point of Rental software with QuickBooks Online. Now you can start syncing your GL entries to QuickBooks by clicking the Sync Entries button. If you need to mark some entries as already synced, you can click Mark Some Entries as already synced.
If you have a Xero Online subscription, you can now sync Rental Essentials and Xero! To do that follow these steps:
1. Log in to Rental Essentials and go to Accounting > Accounts and make sure that you verify all the account numbers and confirm that they are what you want to use.
The Account Names above must follow this format. The Account Numbers must be unique to the Account Numbers that you currently have within your Xero account. If these are the same as what already exists in your Xero account, Essentials will not be able to create unique accounts.
2. Once you are happy with what you have set up, click on Accounts > Xero Integration and click the button for connecting to Xero.
3. You will be taken to the Xero login page. Input your Xero account details.
If you use two-factor authentication in Xero, you will be asked for an authentication code. Typically, this would be held within an authenticator app, such as Google Authenticator. Once you get past that stage, Rental Essentials is going to ask which organization you would like to connect to. Xero usually comes with a demo company account, so be sure not to select that one, unless of course, you are using it.
4. Once you have chosen your account, select allow access for 30 mins. You will then be taken back to Rental Essentials.
5. From here, you will need to click a button called Create All Accounts. On the next screen, you will see the successful (or unsuccessful) link of your accounts. If it is a success, your screen will look like the below. Click Done with Accounts to move on to the next step.
6. Next take the taxes that you have in Point of Rental and create them in Xero. Also, you will have to choose your defaults for Rental, Sales, and Damage Waiver. Click Save when you are done.
7. Congratulations! You have now integrated your Point of Rental software with Xero. Now you can start syncing your GL Entries to Xero by clicking the Sync Entries button. If you need to mark some entries as already synced, you can click Mark Some Entries as already synced.
Related articles
QuickBooks Online Integration Overview